Alaska Cruise: Ketchikan, Final Sea Day, and Disembarkation in Seattle

You can read my recap of our ship, NCL Encore here ß

You can read my recap about Embarkation Day, Sea Day, and Icy Straight Point here ß

You can read my recap about Glacier Bay and Juneau here ß

 

Our third Port of Call was Ketchikan and we had officially run out of beautiful weather by the time we came into port the following morning.  In hindsight, I am glad all other days were nice because having to navigate the rain/cold just one day made the whole trip worth it.  NCL must dock the larger ships outside of town due to their size and in doing so, they have built a new dock at Ward Cove.  The downside to being so far out of town is that you don’t get to just walk off the ship right there in town.  The good news is we were able to get directly on a shuttle bus and 20 minutes later, we were dropped off in the center of town.

 

We didn’t have an excursion planned as the local city tours were not being offered through the cruise line.  We set out on foot towards historic Creek Street stopping at a local salmon shop along the way.  We found the Tongass History Museum and thinking it was a good place to use the bathroom while also having a break from the rain/wind, we took a tour.  It was a neat little museum with a lot of history.  They offered discount admission both their museum and the Totem Heritage Museum.  We rode the free shuttle bus to that location and got a short city tour for free.

 

The shuttle bus dropped us back off at Creek Street where we walked around and found Dolly’s House, a local attraction the cruise ship mentioned would be fun to visit.  The admission was $10 and that didn’t feel like money we wanted to spend so we snapped our photos and moved along. 

 

I had been on the hunt for an Alaska Starbucks mug from their You Were Here series.  A local told me to check Anabelle’s which we also found out was known for their chowder and beer.  We knew we needed to visit!  The service was rough, but the chowder hit the spot on a cold day.  Our Google search yielded a Safeway just one mile away that had a Starbucks and after a quick phone call confirmation, Kenyon and I hailed taxi for the two-mile round-trip visit to secure a mug.  We met my parents at the visitor center to board the shuttle bus making our way back to the ship.  We were supposed to watch Choir of Man that evening, but the show had been rescheduled to the following day and we opted for a low-key evening with dinner and an early bedtime.

Our final sea day was another rough one.  Along with our beautiful weather dissipating, high winds and rough seas accompanied it.  Boy was the boat rocking.  We just had one day at sea before arriving back in Seattle so it was bearable.  We slept in during our last day and had a leisurely sit-down breakfast at Savor.  Mom, Kenyon, and I attended an information talk/Q&A with the Captain and the Chief Engineer to learn all about the mechanics of the ship.  It is quite impressive on how it all comes together.  I made one last trip to District Brewhouse and took in some Deal or No Deal, where I Lost.  We had early dining reservations at Q’s Smokehouse and you better believe we had another delicious smoked margarita (we had two).  The BBQ was so good.  Mom and I took in the first showing of Choir of Man and I absolutely loved it.  I kept my re-schedule reservation for the 10pm and show and went again by myself.  It was just as great the second time.  The show will now have a US Tour so I may need to try and catch it in the future. 

 

Our bags had to be outside our door by midnight for the Port Valet program who would whisk them away and send them straight to the airport to be collected in Idaho.  We woke up the following day as the ship was about to dock in Seattle.  The skyline told me our trip had come to an end.

 

With our flight home at 6pm, the plan was to disembark and spend the day in Seattle on a hop on/hop off bus.  Little did I know that COVID would shut them down until 2022.  EPIC FAIL!  We made our way on foot to Pike’s Place as I really wanted to snag one another special Starbucks You Were Here mug that you can only get at that one original location.  I didn’t anticipate I’d stand in line for one hour!  But, I did it and I now have two more mugs in my collection.

 

We took an Uber to the Space Needle but decided not to go up for a visit. 

 

I will in the future because I heard the took out the metal cages and put full glass plus, they removed the restaurant, and it is now a full rotating circle with windows.  Next time for sure.  We were starving and I love when I get a chance to visit Old Spaghetti Factory and I knew they had some locations in Seattle.  The downtown location was closed but we found one that was on our way to the airport.  We boarded a Lyft and ate a delicious lunch before deciding to then Uber our way to the airport.  We arrived four hours early but were hoping we could find the Alaska Lounge and camp out since we booked first class airfare, we were able to use the lounge for free.  Once we made it through airport security, we beelined it to the lounge and sprawled out.

 

Thank you to Alaska Airlines for having a lounge with free Starbucks espresso, Freestyle Coke machine, beer, cider, well alcohol options, and a food/snacks.  It was time well spent and we really enjoyed the downtime.  I brought up the BSU game on my iPad for my parents to watch.  It as really a highlight of our travel.

While I didn’t think I Alaska would be a repeat destination, I really enjoyed this trip and I would go again for sure.  The time spent with my parents was priceless and I will remember this trip for the rest of my life.